


White Hot

by stellarose



Category: X-Men (Comicverse), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Dysfunctional Family, Emma Frost is a Good Friend, F/F, Family Dynamics, Gen, Light Angst, Mentioned Kitty Pryde, Phoenix Force - Freeform, Rachel Summers needs a hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:08:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24244783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellarose/pseuds/stellarose
Summary: In light of recent events Emma Frost goes to visit Rachel Summers. Emma has suspicions of her own regarding Rachel and certain happenings on Krakoa, and is more than happy to go poking around for answers.
Relationships: Rachel Summers & Emma Frost
Comments: 5
Kudos: 11





	White Hot

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own the names of characters, etc. These belong to Marvel. I am also uploading this onto ff.net.
> 
> Please read, reply, leave kudos and enjoy! Your patronage is very much appreciated.

Emma knew the house on the moon would be all but empty. Jean and Logan were out with X-Force, Scott was meeting with Forge, Alex was at the Green Lagoon, and Cable hadn’t been seen for a couple of days, but not nearly enough time for anyone to be actually concerned. Emma stepped through the portal into the living room, finding empty beer bottles on the coffee table, an assortment of global newspapers scattered about, a few electronic devices probably all in need of charging, and a basket full of unsorted clean washing.

“Anyone home?” Emma called, despite knowing full well who was there.

“No. Go away,” Rachel called from her room.

“Ah, lovely to see you too, Rachel darling.”

“Mom and Logan are on a mission. Alex is at the bar. Dad’s doing something boring and no one knows where Nathan is. But you already knew all that.”

Emma leant against the doorframe of Rachel’s bedroom. “Nice room,” she said, looking at the messy desk, pile of clothes in various states of cleanliness on the floor, and unmade bed upon which Rachel was lying. “I haven’t seen much of you lately.”

“I avoid you on purpose. Why are you here?”

“I need to talk to you. Can I come in?”

“No,” Rachel grumbled, rolling off the bed. She was wearing a faded grey Jean Grey School hoodie, black leggings, and rainbow striped socks, and her hair was a complete mess. She stalked past Emma into the living area, casually using her TK to tidy the place up while going over to the fridge.

Emma couldn’t help but smile as the bottles escorted themselves to the recycling bin, the newspapers arranged themselves into a neat pile, the electronic devices returned themselves to the rooms of their respective owners, and the clothes began to fold themselves up and sort themselves into piles, all quite like that scene from Fantasia.

“We only have beer left if it’s alcohol you’re after. And cold pizza if you want food. Or - whatever this dish was. It smells gross, but it’s possible Logan’s picked it up from somewhere weird on purpose so I’m not throwing it out.”

“I appreciate the hospitality, darling, but you don’t - ”

“I have to do something, Emma,” Rachel said, still going through the contents of the fridge. “I have to…”

Emma wandered over and rested her hand on the fridge door. “Talk to me.”

“I can’t,” Rachel said stressing the second word, rummaging through cartons of yoghurt and assorted bottles of condiments.

Emma pursed her lips and nodded. “I can feel it, darling,” she confessed.

Rachel looked up. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said quietly, closing the fridge.

“I can feel it.”

“How long?” Rachel breathed, afraid that admitting anything too loudly would destroy the illusion of perfection they were living in.

“Since I first saw you after you came back from whatever future hell you ended up in this time. I wasn’t sure what it was at first, I thought perhaps I was finally getting my shit together, but it’s stronger than that. I could feel the warmth, the - ”

“Maybe you’re still crazy because I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Rachel swallowed, pushing past Emma and making her way to the couches. She sat down heavily, folding her legs up under herself, and used her TK to sent the piles of clean clothing back to their respective rooms.

Emma followed and sat down at the opposite end of the same couch. “Do the others know?” she asked gently.

“Know what? Stay out of my head. Go back to the island. We’re not doing this. I don’t have anything to say. Go away.”

“Something’s wrong, Rachel,” Emma continued to push gently, knowing that Rachel was too much like her father. With enough gentle prodding, she’d open up. She was hurting and afraid and felt she was alone, but Emma was determined to be a somewhat decent ex-defacto step-mother this time.

“You haven’t spoken to Jean about it? Or Scott?”

“If they can feel it, they haven’t brought it up,” Rachel said, grabbing a cushion. “Besides, there’s nothing to say.”

“What about Katherine?”

“What about her?” Rachel said, getting defensive.

“Have you spoken to them about her? Or Alex? Or Nathan, or - ?”

Rachel shrugged, hugging the cushion. “There’s nothing to say. Kitty will be fine. Someone will figure out what’s going on.”

“Kate,” Emma corrected gently.

Rachel tensed.

“What?” Emma asked.

“I can’t call her that,” Rachel confessed. She dug her fingers into the cushion as she felt her emotions coming close to overwhelming her. “Kate died. My Kate. She - she helped to raise me. Protected me. She was like a big sister. I mean, there was like a 15 year age gap, but still, she was my sister. And she died, just like the rest of them. They all died, but for some reason, I’d thought - m-maybe I’d never even thought I’d lose Kate. I couldn’t let myself think that, because I simply couldn’t lose her. It was too frightening. But I did. I did and then I came here, a-and here was Kitty. She was still Katherine Pryde, but she wasn’t Kate. She wasn’t the person who raised me. Hell, I’m a couple of years older than her here! I couldn’t save Kate, but I could save Kitty. Kitty saved me, more than she knows, and…” Rachel trailed off.

“Oh, darling,” Emma said, wishing she could hold Rachel, but knowing that might upset the balance, and fearing that Rachel would retreat back inside herself if pushed too hard. It was easy to forget everything Rachel had suffered, as most of it was close to impossible to imagine, but Emma had seen glimpses from time to time of the all too real nightmares in Rachel’s mind. Even when she allowed her Hound markings to be seen, it was easier to forget what they really meant.

“She could talk me out of being overwhelmed by the Phoenix,” Rachel continued, “She could stop me from spiralling, just like Kate. Only she wasn’t Kate because she was _here_. But you knew that. That’s why you psi-linked her with me when the Greys were killed. You knew I needed her.” Rachel looked at Emma through tearful eyes. “You’ve always known.”

“I’m not daft,” Emma smiled, “Plus your thoughts are hardly quiet when it comes to her. Or particularly clean.”

Rachel chuckled and wiped her eyes on the back of her sleeve. “When she was trapped in the bullet…I knew she was still out there. I went to space because I had the stupid idea that there I’d be closer to her, as though being in the vastness of space could achieve that. I knew she was still alive. But this - this is different. She’s gone and - ” Rachel looked into Emma’s eyes. “Something really is wrong, isn’t it?”

“I - I don’t know,” Emma said.

Rachel bit her lip. If something was wrong, it wouldn’t be safe to talk about. Not here. Not anywhere they could be overheard, which drastically lowered the number of places they could go. “This is why you came,” Rachel said, resigned, holding out her hand.

“Darling, if you don’t - ”

“Damn you, Emma Frost,” Rachel mumbled, but couldn’t help but smirk as Emma sighed dramatically and took Rachel’s hand.

“Ah, the White Hot Room,” Emma said, looking around the empty white space. “Not sure if I’m relieved or terrified to be back. And to be right.”

Rachel shrugged, slowing creating a scene. “Paris, springtime, no traffic.”

“It’s difficult to people-watch with no people, darling,” Emma said as the scene came to life: the pavement, the trees, the terraced buildings. Her favourite cafe with an empty table out front. Two coffees and a tray of pastries appeared on the table.

“Calories in the white hot room don’t count,” Rachel said, sitting down.

“Oh darling, I know,” Emma said, appreciating the mild breeze and warming sunlight. She pulled a pair of sunglasses out of nowhere as her uniform morphed into a chic white linen dress and strappy sandals. Rachel stayed in her sweatshirt and leggings.

“And I’m not adding in random people.”

“Whatever. It’s your room.”

“What do you really want?”

“So you did bring the little bird back with you from your adventures to the future?” Emma said, picking up a pastry.

Rachel shrugged. “How come you could feel it but not the others?”

“Both your parents have died and come back since they last had a connection, Magik spends too much time in Limbo and generally hating you anyway, I don’t think you’ve even see Colossus or Namor, Quire has his head too far up his own arse to notice what’s happening in front of his glasses half the time, Hope’s too busy with her little cult, and well, that more or less just leaves me, darling. No one else possessed it for long enough or had a strong enough hold to recognise it. And none of the other psychics are going to dare to poke around in the pretty little head of yours.”

Rachel sighed and stared down the empty street. “What’s going to happen, Emma?” she asked quietly.

“I don’t know, darling. I wish I did, because I hate not knowing. I hate not being the one in control. I’m middle-fucking-management right now and I hate it. There’s too much I don’t know. I don’t really know what they do to deviants, for a start.”

“What will they do if they find out I’m carrying a certain fiery little bird?”

“I wish I had an answer to that, darling, I really do.”

“I’m not a threat,” Rachel said, feeling nervous. She felt like a kid in the vice-principal’s office, trying to talk her way out of a detention. “It’s never been too much for me. I can control it. It likes me, even more than mom. It’s never tried to hurt me or completely possess me. But if they know they’ll all overreact and I don’t - I don’t want to get locked up. I don’t want anyone messing with me. I - I can’t be locked up. It can’t keep happening. It can’t. I can’t do that.”

“I will fight for you, darling,” Emma said, reaching across and taking Rachel’s hand. Despite the sunny fake environment and hosting the Phoenix Force, Rachel’s hands were cold. “I will fight the whole damned Quiet Council and raze the island before I let them come for you.”

“I didn’t fight hard enough for you,” Rachel said, quietly.

“It was never your job to do that.”

“You don’t have to protect me.”

“You don’t get a say in who I choose to protect.”

“When dad ripped the Phoenix Force from you, I - I could have helped with your powers, to get them back sooner. I - I’ve been there. I know some tricks. Instead I just put up all my walls and…”

“That was never on you,” Emma said, squeezing Rachel’s hand.

Rachel closed her eyes, grateful for the touch. “Do you know how hard this is?” she whispered.

“What is?”

“Making the decision, every day…”

“I’m not following,” Emma said, letting go of Rachel’s hand to sip at her coffee. It was still perfectly hot. Of course, they could sit here for hours, days even, and it would never go cold.

“Everyday, I choose everyone over Kitty. Because I could go down there right now and bring her back. But I do that, and not only would I put a massive target on my own back, but as soon as the world finds out I’m hosting the Phoenix, they’ll all come for me. The Avengers, whatever acronym organisations still exists or sprung out of the old ones, anyone who thinks they can control it and control me or destroy it. And there are people on Krakoa who would hand me over or kill me on sight as easily as take a breath if it means keeping the peace, a-and others…”

“Who will fight to the ends of the earth for you,” Emma said.

Rachel nodded sadly. “S-so everyday since Kitty died, I - I have to choose. Do I let it all burn to save her, or let them keep their peace, but lose the one person I - I…”

“Did you ever tell her?”

Rachel shook her head. “But I - I think she knows. Knew. Mom knows. Rogue. Betsy because she pries. Storm’s probably figured it out.”

“Darling, everyone has figured it out. Everyone had figured it out before you two finished your teens.”

Rachel wiped her eyes.

“You are the strongest person I know, Rachel darling,” Emma said, her chair moving itself so she was sitting right beside Rachel. “If our positions were reversed, and it was Scott who was gone, I would have burned everything the first time bringing her back with Hope’s little team didn’t work.”

Rachel leant into Emma. “Why doesn’t it work for her? The gateways, the resurrection process?”

“I don’t know.”

“Have you asked?”

“Of course. And I get bullshit answers every time.”

“You said something is wrong…?”

Emma nodded, putting an arm around Rachel. “There has to be a link between Katherine and Destiny.”

“Mystique’s Destiny?” Rachel asked, allowing herself to soften into Emma’s hold.

Emma nodded. “Charles promised Mystique he’d bring Destiny back. Mystique is still too blinded by hope to see that he’s lying through his teeth. He can only string her along for so long before she snaps.”

“Destiny has precog…”

“So do you.”

“It’s not very good,” Rachel sighed. “I never had any training with it, not like my TP and TK. For that I had mom and Betsy and even you.”

Emma gave a small smile.

“But Kitty’s powers,” Rachel continued, “They’re useful, sure, but they’re hardly going to overthrow Krakoa. Besides, you got her onto the Quiet Council anyway. Why would someone not want her there? Why - why can’t they bring her back?”

“Any reason I can come up with seems too petty,” Emma confessed. “Katherine is a very good leader. People look to her. She’s nice. She’s sensible, diplomatic, her powers are non-threatening…”

“Shaw took her out to get to you,” Rachel mumbled.

“I know, but that doesn’t explain why she can’t be brought back.”

“He’s going to go for you.”

“I know,” Emma breathed. “He always does.”

“He’s a creep. He may not kill you. He knows they can bring you back. He’ll just hurt you instead.”

“I know.”

“If they can’t heal you, I can.”

“Darling, I won’t have you risk outing yourself for me.”

“I’m going to have to out myself eventually,” Rachel said, raising her hand and allowing feathers of flames to dance off her fingertips. “And - umm, about liking girls too.”

Emma chuckled and kissed Rachel on the top of the head. “Don’t let anyone force you before you’re ready. And not to belittle your feelings or anxieties, but the way things are around here, no one will be that shocked.”

“I know,” Rachel said. “It’s still hard.”

“I know,” Emma said. They sat in a comfortable silence for a few moments. The chairs had morphed into a couch, still on the sidewalk of an empty Parisian boulevard. Rachel was leaning into Emma, Emma had her arms wrapped protectively across Rachel’s chest.

“Emma?”

“Mmm?”

“How much hope is there?”

“For Katherine or for this ending in anything other than flames?”

“Both,” Rachel shrugged.

“I wish I knew.”

“Does anyone else know? About how you think things are off?”

“No,” Emma admitted. “Because truth be told, I don’t know what they’d do if they did. We’ve fought too hard for this, and I hate that something is already rotten at the core. You can feel it though, can’t you? That’s why you spend so much time here? On the moon, I mean, not in the White Hot Room.”

Rachel shrugged. “Oh, I let myself drift in here often enough. Maybe too often, I don’t know. I’m a bit short on confidents. I’m not currently on a team. I can’t really tell mom or dad. I hate that I don’t know if they’d just go running off to Magneto or Charles. But something is off about this whole set-up.”

Emma nodded.

“That’s why you’re talking to me and not mom or dad.”

“That and I wanted confirmation that you’re hosting Phoenix.”

“But you’re going to keep playing the game?” Rachel asked.

“Of course. Until I think of a better plan. We might have to play along for a little while yet though.”

“I know. Let me know if you do come up with a plan, though. Charles can’t see what happens in the White Hot Room, can he?”

“No darling, we’re quite safe in here,” Emma confirmed.

“So, if I ever want to talk…”

“You can pull me in. Maybe give me a psychic heads-up first.”

“Thank-you,” Rachel breathed.

“Oh please darling, I don’t need you going all mushy on me. If anyone gets the idea that the two of us are getting along, then they really will suspect something is off.”

Rachel chuckled and pulled herself from Emma’s embrace, and took them out of the White Hot Room.

“You can go now,” Rachel said, pulling her hand away from Emma’s.

Emma rolled her eyes and stood up. “Brush your hair.”

“Whatever, _mum_ ,” Rachel smirked, imitating Emma’s accent.

“Don’t be a stranger, darling,” Emma said, straightening her clothes, regretting that outfit was not nearly as comfortable as the chic dress in the White Hot Room. She looked back at Rachel, wishing she could do more. “I’ll be in touch.”

“Bye,” Rachel said, watching Emma disappear through the gateway, feeling a little less alone.

**Author's Note:**

> The End!
> 
> Thanks very much for reading.


End file.
